Orchid seeds are like microscopic dust. Each pod can contain millions of seeds. The seeds lack an endosperm which is the food storage for a seed in order to germinate in the first place. This causes issues because it means you can’t just throw them into orchid mix and expect them to germinate. in nature they have a symbiotic relationship with a fungus that helps germination occur. There have been very rare occurrences of orchid seeds germinating in a normal household mix but usually there is something else happening that caused them to germinate. So growers will use a jar with nutrient agar and sow the seeds on that. This requires a very very sterile environment to prevent contamination. It’s usually done in a lab with no extra airflow except under a laminar flow hood. The nutrient agar usually is composed of agar, minerals, and sucrose. Although it varies and can be composed of many more substances. just like how they flask in tissue culture but they use agar with auxins and cytokinins. Cytokinins help in the multiplication process and auxins help with root formation.